Metal-hydride reactor for low rate fuel supply with pressure driven adsorption and cooled by natural convection

Abstract

Abstract A metal hydride reactor for hydrogen accumulation RHA-1 containing 18 kg of La0.85Ce0.15Ni5 alloy is created. RHA-1 and has maximum hydrogen capacity of 2.7 st.m3 and nominal capacity of 2 st.m3. Experiments have shown that the reactor could be operated using the pressure difference between an electrolyzer (1 MPa) and a fuel cell (>0.2 MPa) with passive cooling/heating of air in indoor conditions. The equilibrium charge rate is 1 st.L/min, the equilibrium discharge rate is 1.3 st.L. The RHA-1 could be used for long term energy storage and in combination with the 100 W PEM fuel cell is comparable with 12V 210Ah electrochemical batteries. The metal hydride/fuel cell system is lighter and more durable than lead acid batteries and cheaper that Li-ion batteries.